


Walking the Dog

by Yamino_Yama



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Birthday, Celebrations, Dogs, M/M, Surprises, Touma's birthday, ZOOL
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21598654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yamino_Yama/pseuds/Yamino_Yama
Summary: ZOOL's members drag Touma out for a birthday surprise in the park, and the Year of the Dog meets a four-legged counterpart.
Relationships: Inumaru Touma/Izumi Iori/Nanase Riku, Inumaru Touma/Nanase Riku, Inumaru Touma/Natsume Minami
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Walking the Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! As promised, I present a Touma birthday fic, featuring Dear Butterfly RabiTV's dog, Bess, and the Izumis' Fonte Chocolat! Was going to model it after the ZOOL b'day RabiTVs, with Touma just saying and doing what he wants at the request of the others, but went with them giving him their own surprise. It's short and sweet, but I hope you all find it enjoyable.
> 
> P.S. This one isn't a part of the Watchdog series, but you can see signs of Touma/Riku/Iori (and you don't even have to squint ^^). Plus, ToraMina, and more! Whether you ship or not, enjoy the cute interactions <3
> 
> P.P.S. Please forgive any typos/errors. I didn't have much time to proofread. If you're celebrating Thanksgiving today, have both a Happy Touma and a Happy Turkey Day! See you with the next one!

Touma shielded his eyes, squinting around at the open park he'd found himself in thanks to his members dragging him out this morning. The sun was only peaking above the horizon but it was already straining his eyes with its brightness. And it was quiet. Somehow, despite being a public spot, there were few people out, and Touma couldn't tell if it was because today was a weekday or because it was so freaking early.

“Look,” he started, “I appreciate you guys inviting me out, but couldn't we have picked a—” He paused to stifle a yawn and finish, “later time.”

Haru clicked his tongue. “You sleep too much. Don't you want to make the most of the whole day. Your birthday only comes once a year.”

“Sure, sure, Haru,” Touma nodded as he scratched his head, “but I think the point is to enjoy yourself and right now I could stand for a few more z's. Mina and Tora already tore into my hours of sleep last night when they invited me out to drink.”

“And what was meant to be a relaxing outing turned a bit chaotic when Midou-san had too much to drink.”

Touma sighed, remembering. “It was hard to get you to stop singing that hero song.”

“Hey, it's a great song,” Tora insisted.

“Whatever,” Haru interrupted. “Today you'll have fun, Touma. I planned this so I'm sure of it. Just wait—Ah! Here they come!”

Touma turned and saw IDOLiSH7's Tamaki Yotsuba heading toward them, or rather being pulled toward them by a big Golden Retriever.

“Oh, hey boy!” Touma laughed as the dog leaped up on him. “Where did this guy come from?” he asked between giggles.

“This is Bess-kun from a cafe I know. The owners said I could walk him sometime and since Isumin asked, I brought him to see you guys.”

“This was the surprise, huh?” Touma asked, kneeling and getting bombarded by licks again.

“We were planning on doing that rent-a-dog thing,” Haru explained, “but it costs a lot, even for a day. Then I remembered Yotsuba telling me about this guy. I knew you'd like to meet him.” Haru bent to join Touma on the dog's level, grabbing the furry bundle in a bear hug. “Minami wanted to see cats on his birthday and I thought it would make you happy to see a dog. I was right, wasn't I?”

“You were,” Touma said. “It's a great surprise.”

“There's another surprise too,” Mina said. He had a sly look on his face that bled into his voice and made Touma's nerves rattle. The feeling amplified when Mina and Tora glanced at each other and shared the look.

“W-what kind of surprise?” Touma asked, standing and brushing at his knees to remove any dirt from his jeans. “The dog is enough, you know. No need to go crazy. Small things like this are what count.”

“Is that right?” Mina said with that smooth voice. “You heard him, Yotsuba-san. I guess you can call Nanase Riku and tell him he doesn't need to join us here.”

“Riku? Riku's coming?” Touma looked from face to face, only seeing amusement and, from Haru, mild disgust.

Looking around some more, Touma spotted Riku heading their way now at a full run. By the time he reached them, he was hunched over to catch his breath, filling Touma with dread. But he soon righted himself and got his words.

“Touma-san, Happy Birthday!” Riku cheered, beaming. “When Tamaki texted me that he was coming to the park to do ZOOL a favor, I rushed over. It's been a while since I saw you last.”

Touma's chest felt tight with joy, but also with concern. Riku was trying not to let on, but Touma could see he was still scrambling to catch his breath. His cheeks were even flushed. Touma could feel his doing the same, for other reasons.

“You didn't have to rush over, Riku. You all right?”

Riku's smile looked more genuine as he nodded. “I'm all right now. I'm super glad to see you again.”

Before Touma could respond, Riku was crouched with Haru, and Tamaki too, giving Bess hugs and getting kisses in return. _Lucky dog . . ._

“How about we start walking, Inumaru-san?”

Touma started, not realizing he'd been staring so hard at Riku until Mina broke his trance.

“Right, sure. Let's get started, guys.”

Touma was allowed to begin the walk, fully waking up and enjoying the sun now that his legs were required to keep such a brisk pace. Bess-kun walked with purpose to every tree he spotted, and once people began to enter the park, he charged up to them too. Touma got a lot of praise for 'his' dog and Tamaki allowed him to answer with a quick thanks.

“Bess-kun is getting praised for being friendly and pretty so whether he's yours or not doesn't matter,” Tamaki reasoned. “Bess-kun is happy, so it's good.”

The dog was indeed happy, getting pats and even dog-safe food tidbits from strangers. Touma again wished he had this level of charisma.

Haru and Riku enjoyed the same level of popularity Touma did when they got their turns walking Bess-kun, entertaining passersby who just had to pet him and share a kind word. Touma's turn came back again and he accepted being lead around gladly, starting to enjoy the dog's erratic pace. It was shaping up to be a nice and relaxing day.

Except at some point Tora wound up with the leash, wanting to give walking a dog a shot. Sadly, the dog decided Touma _really_ needed to be walked instead, or rather, given a run. Bess-kun gained a burst of energy he hadn't shown all morning, zooming across the park and dragging Tora in tow until he couldn't hold on anymore. Bess-kun bounded, no doubt aware of his newfound freedom. Everyone besides Mina ran after the dog who was enjoying the game of tag. When Mina had seemingly enjoyed himself enough watching them all shout and fall over their feet like crazy, he gave a whistle that caught the dog's attention.

Bess-kun's ears perked up as he turned on the spot and lopped over to Mina, sitting before him with a look of awe and a gentle swish of his tail.

“How'd you do that?” Tora demanded to know, panting harder than the dog.

Mina just smirked and shrugged. “Just thought it was worth a try. A good whistle always works in movies.”

“Sorry about that, Tamaki,” Touma apologized. He was the one that let Tora hold the leash after all.

“It's okay, since there's no traffic or anything dangerous, but Toracchi can't hold the leash again.”

“What's the big deal,” said Tora, trying to defend himself. “You just said there was no harm done. Why can't I try again?”

Tamaki glared at him. “You know, Sou-chan's really fond of Bess-kun too. Maybe I should ask _him_ if you should have another chance?”

“No, never mind, sorry,” Tora rambled.

Mina laughed at his cowardice while Haru rolled his eyes.

Tamaki took out his phone and gave it a glance before declaring, “I've got to take Bess-kun back now anyhow. But there's more planned for Marucchi. Iorin told me.”

“Don't _you_ tell him,” Haru ordered.

Tamaki ignored Haru, turning to give Touma a grin. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks, Tamaki. I appreciate you being here.” He gave the dog one last pat on the head. “And you too, Bess-kun. See you.”

Tamaki and Riku gave each other a nod, then Tamaki took off with the dog while Riku stayed put. It seemed to be understood that Riku was coming along with Touma and the other members of ZOOL to receive his second (or was it third, he thought with a glance at Riku) surprise.

They wound up at the bakery they'd ordered Tora and Mina's birthday cakes from.

“We're eating in this time,” Haru said, “courtesy of the Izumis.”

Touma gawked at him as Haru explained what he meant.

“So Fonte Chocolat is owned by the Izumi family?” Tora asked Haru. He was dumbfounded that he hadn't realized sooner.

“Yeah, I found out from Yotsuba,” Haru answered.

Riku gave Touma a light nudge. “Iori made sure he'd be at work today, so you'll be seeing him soon. He didn't actually say, but I'm sure he really wanted to be part of your surprise.”

“Yeah,” Haru nodded. “The cakes are already super great, but Izumi said he'd make you a special one. 'Only because I'll be at work that day, and might as well demonstrate the best of my abilities,' he added.”

Riku laughed. “That's Iori for you.”

“Anyway, I couldn't turn it down since it's cake,” Haru finished. “Bet you guys are glad I'm favored at school, huh.”

“Even if it is with two outlier classmates,” Tora muttered.

Luckily, Haru didn't catch the retort, too excited at the prospect of cake and hardly able to sit still at the table. The sweet smells of creams and fruits _were_ tantalizing, almost too much, so Touma could empathize.

But rather than letting on that the wait was getting to him too, Touma reached to try and keep the kid from fidgeting. “Just hold on, Haru. It shouldn't be much longer.”

As he spoke, Iori came from back totting a chocolate cake decorated with icing puppies running around the rim. In center was a small mound of butter cream topped with a strawberry.

“That's quite a cake,” Tora commented.

“Just wait until you taste it,” Haru touted again. “We've had their vanilla cakes before but nothing can prepare you for the chocolate.”

“All right, Haru,” Touma said. “We intend to eat it. You don't have to work so hard to sell it.”

As Iori placed the cake in the center of the table, Touma turned to him and smiled. “Thanks, Iori.”

Iori turned away but Touma didn't miss his blush as he muttered.,“It wasn't as if I was doing anything personal by helping with my parents' business. I just happened to have to work today.”

Touma's smile grew wider, looking at everyone in the room and back at the cake, its candles flickering like phantom memories.

“Hurry and blow them out,” Haru complained, “before we wind up with wax on the cake.”

“All right, all right, Haru,” Touma shushed him, closing his eyes as he feigned making a wish. He wouldn't let on to the others, but here and now, he had everything he could ever wish for.

*

“You're _got_ to stop recording without permission, Haru,” Touma warned him as he watched a video of him grinning and frolicking with Bess-kun in the park. He looked more foolish than he wanted to admit and was fighting the urge to grab the remote and flick the TV off. “How did you even manage this? Weren't you walking beside me, not behind me?”

“It was Yotsuba,” Haru told him. “He recorded and sent it to me. Plus—”

He fast-forwarded a bit and suddenly the focus was on Riku. With his smile and sun lighting his face, IDOLiSH7's center seemed to glow in an ethereal way. Touma could hardly take his eyes off him.

“Thanks, Haru,” he whispered. He took the time to spare a glance at Tora and Mina too, sitting across the room, his swimming vision alerting him that he was on the verge of tears. “Thanks, to all you guys.”

Mina raised a glass. “To this year and all to follow, Inumaru-san.” Tora picked up a glass too, Haru, a can of soda. Touma looked around but couldn't find a drink, so instead mimed holding an invisible one. He smiled and the others smiled with him as they collectively called out, 'cheers.'

END


End file.
